As is normal at this time of year, there’s not much out that looks worthwhile so I’ve only seen a few films this month.
First up, Megamind is the superhero story we’ve all wanted to see for a while: the one where the evil villain and his dastardly creations finally win out and defeat the hero. Megamind is about the loneliness of a villain with no hero to fight. From that point onwards, the story is fairly predictable but fun, built around a number of parodies and sight gags. The highlight is probably Will Ferrell’s Marlon Brando impersonation, but there are a bunch of other neat little moments. It never manages to raise itself to the level of a classic animated film (like Toy Story 3), but is good enough to watch at least once. (See my Megamind Twitter review).
The Tourist, however, is not good enough to recommend watching even half of it. It’s a truly terrible film on almost every level. It looks pretty and has a strong cast, but they’re squandered here on terrible dialogue and a formulaic, “twisting” plot. You’ll see the twists coming, you’ll cringe at the ropey lines, the heavy-handed spoonfeeding of information, the seen-it-all-before action set pieces, and the overacting. I can’t recommend this at all. Terrible. (see my The Tourist Twitter review).
The winner is Megamind. Not because it’s a classic film, more because it didn’t have any competition.